Rick Nier...Woo!

Wow, what a whirlwind week. From losing power to freezing, then bursting, pipes. From wrapping gifts to unwrapping gifts. From wondering about secrets to knowing all that has been done in December. From being tired to remaining tired. I'm positive more could have been fit in, but my new Wii tells me quite a bit of time was spent playing with my family. I suppose that's good. Now, about this New Year. I plan on spending it the exact same way I have for the previous 6 years. Up all night at my church with crazy young people. If you're planning on coming, please remind me to stretch. It makes a difference for me the next day. And just quite possibly, it won't leave me in a daze to start the New Year.

I normally love Mondays. Where many people dread Mondays, I love them. No, it's not because of Monday Night Football, although I like that aspect of Mondays. I take Mondays off. So while most of the world is stepping back into the world of work-related woes, I sleep in, exercise, and hang out with children, my children. But not today... Today I work, in order to make up for the time I'll be off later this week. It's not being at work that bothers me. I love my job, my ministry. But because of this past weekend's ice and wind, my home is left without water. What is it about a lack of power and water that makes us feel less human? I get that I'm used to having what we refer to as essentials in life. I get that this is an inconvenience. But I'm not less human. I'm not even dirty, as I used a shower over in our church parsonage. Have I somehow equated certain activities, like being able to flush a toilet, with my being human. A brief reminder of history will sho...

It's something about this time of year, with a New Year coming and this one in the midst of a very reflective holiday season. My thoughts turn to purposes and passions. I want more. Philosophically speaking, the desire proves the existence of 'more' out there. Whenever there is a need, there is something there to fill that need. I hunger, there is food. I thirst, there is water. I was made to worship, and what do you know, God is there to be worshiped. So there must be more to match my desires. It strikes me that this could sound very U2 or that my current location is not satisfactory. Let's do away with silly thoughts like that right now. There is plenty more to be done right here and I want to move forward towards accomplishing it. I want more.

I'm supposed to be writing an article for our church newsletter right now. That's not typically hard as I like to write. This article will be for January. It'll be a new year and so I know my thoughts should be encouraging and uplifting. The problem is that I do not feel that way right now. I need to write feelings I do not yet feel for a time I have not yet seen. That's not always easy. This blog is a bit easier. I feel crummy, therefore I write crummy feelings. It's an instant deal. But even as I sit here typing, I know that one of the greatest things about God is the hope He gives. It is not simply for today that we live. It's not even for a New Year that we live. January may find better things, but let's be honest, it may not. But check this out. Towards the end of all that scary, apocalyptic stuff in Revelation, you can find this. 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longe...

If you read people who are supposedly in the know, they'll tell you that key to success is how we begin our day. I've even listened to pastors talk about how important starting the day with Jesus is. I've probably even mentioned it a time or two. Yet here's the thing. I started today out talking to Jesus. That part was good. Then I had to see the rest of the world. I personally think this whole starting-the-day-out-right thing would be a lot easier if we had like 3 hours of buffer before we ever had to deal with people. But maybe that's just me.